Filling head



Set. 18, 1956 11.1. BAGAROZYl 2,763,415

FILLING HEAD FiledMay 27, 1955 1 O; .1 T as fb, 7

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M .INVENTR BY il United States Patent @nice 2,763,415 Patented Sept. 1 8, 195i;`

FILLING HEAD Tully J. Bagarozy, Bronx, N. Y.

Application May 27, 1955, Serial No. 511,571

4 Claims. (Cl. 226-68) This invention relates to a filling head and more particularly to a filling head adapted to fill pressure resistant containers with high pressure gas.

It is an object of this invention to provide a filling head for filling pressure resistant containers with high pressure gas.

It is another object to provide an apparatus adapted to fill high pressure resistant containers consistently with a high pressure gas of a given pressure.

It is another object to provide a filling head of inexpensive construction and efficient operation.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following disclosure of an illustrative embodiment taken in connection with an accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a side view of the complete machine.

Fig. 2 is a detailed View broken away in part to show the manner of lowering a syphon tube into a container by the filling head.

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the filling head showing the high pressure gas inlet and outlet openings in opposed relationship for purposes of simplification.

Referring to the drawing a substantially L-shaped support having an integral base plate 11 and a vertical member 12 is bolted to a work table by conventional bolts 13.

The base plate 11 is provided with a V-shaped or U- shaped cut-out element 14 adapted to center a high pressure resistant container 15.

The vertical member 12 is provided with a iixedly secured table piece 16 and a conventional pair of brackets 17 to hold a conventional gas operated cylinder piston 18.

The table 16 is provided with a substantially U-shaped cut-out to receive a filling head including a cylindrical collar 19 (Fig. 2).

The filling head proper comprises the manually depressed cylindrical collar 19, which collar may be depressed by hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical means if desired. Where manual depressing or lowering of the collar 19 upon the shoulder of container 15 is effected the collar is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed pivot pins 20. A manually operated rocker member 21 is secured to these pins 20.

The rocker member 21 consists of a pair of spacedapart lever arms 22 of suitable lengths and having the pivot pins 20 disposed substantially in the center of the lever arm length thereby permitting contacting of the free ends 23 of the lever arms against the bottom surface of fixed table piece 16 (Fig. 3) and the consequent lowering of the collar 19 onto the appropriate shoulder 24 of container 15.

The rocker member 21 is provided with upright elements 25 which are preferably integral with each of the lever arms 22 at the end away from the free end 23 (Fig. l). A hand bar 26 is secured to top of' elements 25. As shown in Fig. 1 downward pressure on bar 26 causes the bar to rotate on pins 20 until table 16 is engaged by lever ends 23. Further downward rotation of the rocker member causes the collar to slide down and the upright elements 25 to become horizontally disposed and to straddle container 15 whereby the collar 19 is clamped hermetically to the container shoulder 24 by sealer ring 27 of rubber disposed in the bevel surface 28 of the collar mouth.

The collar 19 is provided with a gas inlet port 29 and a gas exit port 30. The ports 29 and 30 pass through screw threaded hose retaining studs 31 to which conventional fiexible high pressure resistant conduit is attached.

The collar 19 is provided with an inner circular seating ledge 32. The rubber sealer ring 27 is iiXedly secured by press fitting into a suitable groove disposed in the beveled surface 28; Optionally the inner cylindrical surface of the cylindrical collar 19 is provided with a second groove in which a second sealer ring 33 of rubber is disposed.

The device of this invention is used to introduce inert gas such as nitrogen gas into a container containing sodium bicarbonate dry powder for fire extinguishing purposes. The gas pressure preferred is about 150 pounds per square inch.

In order to be certain that 150 pounds of gas pressure are in each container at the time of sealing, the sealing is effected at this pressure by having the exit nitrogen gas pass through port 30 and fiexible conduit 34 into a conventional preset valve 35 set to operate at 150 pounds and thence to conduit 36 whence the 150 pounds pressure gas is conducted into cylinder piston 18 where it trips and sets the can sealing operation in motion.

The can sealing mechanism may be of conventional manufacture using mechanical fingers to grasp and hold a conventional syphon tube insert assembly but preferably the mechanical grasping of the syphon tube insert is assise ed by use of vacuum.

ln the conventional syphon tube grasping and sealing a movable tubular member 38 is fixedly secured to a skirt flange 39 and a throat element 4t). The tubular bore of member 38 is provided with a shoulder or shelf 41 on which a plurality of conventional closure fingers 42 are disposed in a conventional circular manner.

A plunger rod 43 which may be a solid rod mounted for reciprocal motion, or preferably a plunger tube modied to effect a vacuum grasping of the syphon tube insert is secured to the arbor 44 by means of a set screw 45.

The plunger rod 43 is provided with a conventional tubular collet 46 which in downward movement causes the bulbous ends of fingers 42 to expand and be disposed in under lip relationship to the insert 47 and container mouth 48 thereby sealing the conventional insert 47 and its frictionally held syphon tube holder 49 to syphon tube 50.

The plunger 43 is spring loaded by coil spring 51 disposed conventionally thereabout. The tubular member 38 is provided with an exteriorly disposed groove adjacent its bottom and a sealer ring of rubber 53 is disposed in said groove.

As shown in Fig. 2, the arbor 44 is modified by means of a lateral port stud 54 which is secured to a vacuum line conduit 55.

ln the operation of the vacuum modified device of this invention the can insert 47 and its syphon tube 5t) as an assembled unit is picked up by the fingers 42 assisted by the vacuum in tubular bore 56 and the assembled insert is lowered into container 15.

Next the rocker arm 21 is lowered bringing collar 19 in hermetically sealed relationship to container 15. Next nitrogen gas is introduced at pounds per square inch through port 29 into the container 15 and .after the container is filled with gas the 150 pounds pressure operates pre-set valve 35 and then cylinder piston 18. Movement of piston 18 kcauses arbor 44 and the tubular plunger 43 and the frictionally held tubular member to move downwardly until flange plate 39 strikes table plate 16 which 'latter is iixedly secured. Thereafter further downward movement yof member 38 is stopped ibut rod 43 continues to move causing collet 46 to push the ingers 42 voutwardly to seal insert 47 t0 container 15 about the mouth 48, meanwhile compressing spring 51.

Upon the completion of the plunger stroke of plunger 43, the gas in cylinder piston 18 is discharged and the coil spring returns the rod 43 upwardly along with the member 38 frictionally held thereto. Next roc-ker arm 21 is released and the sealed gas illed container is removed. Thereupon another -ca-n is placed in position in element 14 and another assembled can insert 4] with syphon tube attached lis secured to `the fingers 42 and the cycle is repeated.

As stated previously, vacuum operation is optional as mechanical grasping is fully operable. However, the use of vacuum prevents the occasionally dropping ot' inserts due to mechanical slipping.

Also the rocker arm may be operated on a timed cycle mechanically operated basis in conjunction with a timed mechanical insertion of containers 'below collar 1'9.

While this invention was described by means of an illustrative embodiment other embodiments within the scope of this disclosure will now become readily apparent to those skilled in this art. However, all these obvious variations are intended to be embraced within the claims appearing herein.

This filling head invention also includes the method of filling a pressure resistant container with high pressure gas. It is not to be limited to lling 'containers having only dry powder re extinguishing material therein for it is operable also with any dry powder and even with containers partly filled with liquid to be -dispensed by the high pressure gas introduced.

I claim:

l. A device for `filling containers with high pressure gas comprising a support having a table and a piston having a plunger arbor disposed thereover, a plunger rod having a tubular bottom secured to said arbor, a tubular member having an inner shelf disposed frictionally about said plunger rod, a plurality of closure lingers secured to said shelf, said tubular member having an exterior groove, a sealer ring disposed in said exterior groove of said tubular member, a collar disposed about said tubular member and having apertures for inlet Aand y.outlet of gas and provided with a beveled inner surface having a circular groove therein, a sealer ring ,disposed in `said groove, a pair of spaced-apart pivot pins secured to said collar, and a rocker element vhaving lever arms secured to said pivot pins for clamping said collar to said container in air-tight relationship.

2. The apparatus of claim l having a pre-set valve Secured to the gas outlet port of said Vcoll-ar yand conduit means for conveying the high pressure gas from said yvalve to said piston.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said plunger -rod is tubular and wherein means for formi-ng a vacuum are connected to the tube of said plunger rod.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein fthe collar .is provided with a groove at its inner top sur-face and a sealing ring disposed in said groove.

References Cited in the file of this .patent UNITED 'STATES PAT 28,424 Twing et al. May 22V, `186.0y 1,790,787 Badger Feb. 3, 1931 2,014,597 Staley Sept. 17, 1935 2,155,397 Brandon Apr..25, 1939 

